Finalist: Best Female Football Blog 2014 (partnered with Huffington Post)

Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Change

Burnley 1 Queens Park Rangers 0

Queens Park Rangers 1 Bristol City 0

Unfortunately I am not in a great position to comment on the quality of the last two matches. The first one started at the ungodly time of 2345 my time and I fell asleep mid way through, and I missed the other one completely forgetting the earlier kick off. Nevertheless, I continue to feel compelled to write and for some reason some of you still keep reading and wanting more. So it is a pleasure to continue, even though I know you know this isn't really a blog that's just about QPR. It's about everything really going on in my life.

As you know I am currently in Manila and I've been witnessing what could be the most important election the Philippines has ever been through in its history. Who many people describe as the Philippines' own Donald Trump is about to be put in to power, and whilst he has been voted in by a disillusioned majority, there is an elite minority that are afraid of his rather extremist views and potential policies (never mind the boorish, oafish behaviour and comments). But in some ways, viewing it ever so slightly objectively, perhaps it is exactly what this country needs to create the change it badly needs. There are a lot of people that write a hell of a lot better than me about politics so please read this opinion on the 'phenomenon' of Duterte by Jorge Mojarro Détente's rock start phenomenon to give you a little background and some good global comparison points. I suppose the defining comment for me is in his words 'Until now the system was being kept because it was beneficial for the political and economic elite, but the appearance of Détente might become an opportunity to acknowledge that the quality of democracy can and must be improved.'

It's very easy for British citizens living back in the UK to take for granted what has been a working, well oiled machine of democracy of its own. And what we are witnessing here in the Philippines is enough time passing now for an extremely young (since independence) and fast growing country and its people (of all classes and levels of wealth), learning to live with the consequences of what a real democracy is. And only time will tell whether the decision made at this election was the right one by the will of the people. If it is not, the country has to learn to do what it needs to do legally, rightfully and in peace if it has a chance in hell of progressing.

Over the last 24 hours I've been seeing news about major changes taking place at Loftus Road. I must say, JFH does not hang about, and it has felt quite hurtful that Ale Faurlin and Clint Hill have been released. It has been quiite a shock to the system only a few days after the end of the season. And for some, ongoing talks to keep Hoilett the Toilet feels like rubbing salt in the wounds. On the other hand, I've liked JFH. I make no complaints about what he has done so far — no the results weren't amazing but they weren't too bad considering what he had to work with this season. And he just comes across as the 'right sort'. I've watched him shake the hands of every player from both teams and every official after every single match. This is decent behaviour to me and it shows me he is a thoughtful person on many levels. But I've also seen him get riled up when he thinks people are taking the piss (near-fisticuffs at that match where Hoilett disappeared in to the ground), and I like the fact that he has fire in his belly.

Is he the person we need? And if we want real change at QPR, isn't he going to make some decisions that we aren't necessarily going to like? We didn't vote for him and nor did we interview him but for now surely we have to support him until such time that we feel he isn't doing the job he has been hired for, which presumably is to turn the club's fortune's around and create a stability and growth which we haven't seen at the club for several decades.

I could be completely wrong, but let's trust him this summer and next season. Part of the responsibility for the progress we want at QPR lies on us fans supporting whoever is at the helm when required. Let's face it (and with all due respect to the American and Filipino electoral process), JFH is no Trump and no Duterte. We're in pretty safe hands.

3 comments:

Hello Emily. This is your old friend sweta from Hong Kong. I had an old hotmail account for you but I don't think you use it anymore so I'm hoping you get this message. Wishing you a very happy birthday wherever you are in the world. Hope that life has been treating you well. Warmth, sweta

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This is a personal blog, where all views are my own, where quotes are made obvious, and some musings may not always be autobiographical.
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